PETER LUCAS: Statehouse 'Golden Boy' lost it all to meth habit

Of the thousands of people I have known or covered in the Massachusetts Legislature over the years, Steve Doran of Lexington would be the last I would have expected to wind up in prison.

Last week Doran, 58, a former 14-year member of the House of Representatives, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to drug charges.

At one time, Doran had it all -- a lovely wife, four daughters, an extended family, a fine home, a solid reputation, good friends and an upwardly mobile political career. He threw it all away.

What happened?

He lived a life out of a dream, or so it seemed. He was a graduate of Lexington High School and UMass Amherst. He attended the London School of Economics. He was a Lexington Town Meeting member as well as a member of the Democrat Town Committee. Rotary loved him.

He had an innocent-looking, all American, boyish way about him. This was coupled with charm, wit and a liberal outlook that made the ladies of Lexington swoon. It was that charm and refreshing newness that enabled him to defeat a well-respected incumbent moderate Republican and win the House seat in 1980, a seat he held for seven terms. The "Golden Boy" was 24 years old.

Never one of the guys who hung with cronies, women and lobbyists in the Beacon Hill watering holes, Doran was a straight-shooting progressive who would rather talk policy than patronage. He went home at night.

He was a neighbor.

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As years went by, I would see him in town, or puttering in his yard as I jogged by, surrounded by flowers and laughing children, who were his four daughters. It could have been out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

He became chairman of the House Ethics Committee, and he had a bright future, as did other newish members of the House he served with, people like the late Paul Cellucci, who became governor, Andy Card, who served as chief of staff to President George W. Bush, Bill Keating, who would be elected to Congress, and others.

A supporter of Gov. Michael Dukakis, Doran campaigned for Dukakis when Dukakis ran for president in 1988, as did his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Frawley (later Elizabeth Frawley Bagley) who was later appointed U.S. ambassador to Portugal by President Bill Clinton. Doran and his family would visit her in Portugal.

What happened?

Doran, who was assured of an eighth term, did not seek re-election, but left the Legislature in 1994 to take an executive position with the Bank of America. That did not last.

Then there were hard-to-believe rumors around town and at the Statehouse that he had left his family and moved to the South End or to Cape Cod, or both. There were reports that he had found a different love and a new life. There were reports that he had fallen, or was dragged, into the drug scene where crystal meth was prevalent. But this could not be happening, not to the Golden Boy from Lexington.

"There was a time that he was Mister Perfect," Tom Vallely, who served with Doran in the House and is a senior adviser at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "But the Norman Rockwell picture of Steve never really existed. It was a myth."

But crystal meth is not a myth.

Crystal meth, or crystal methamphetamine, is a highly addictive street drug commonly used at rave parties and at clubs. It gives you a temporary rush, a false sense of happiness. Once taken, it becomes highly addictive. It destroys your brain and your life. It can also cause serious emotional and psychological harm to the lives of other people, like your wife and your four daughters.

Doran, who was "a terrible addict," according to his lawyer, was arrested by state police last May after he received a package containing the drug at the Jamaica Plain charter school where he worked as a tutor. Police also found more of the drug at his Dorchester apartment along with $10,000 in cash, a digital scale and "other items consistent with drug distribution."

Doran, who also suffers from Stage 3 melanoma, faced a sentence of 20 years if found guilty in a jury trial. Instead he got three.

It is good that Gov. Deval Patrick has launched a $20 million program to deal with the drug crisis in the state. As part of that program, he should have Doran, the Golden Boy -- now ravaged by drugs and cancer -- address the students at Lexington High School. Doran could tell the them how he threw away his life. He could tell them what happened.

Only he knows.

Peter Lucas' political column appears Tuesday and Friday. Email him at luke1825@aol.com.

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